Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that public sector food procurement meets the proposed requirement for 50% of food spend to meet higher environmental and welfare standards.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has already published a new national procurement policy statement which sets expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards that British producers are well-placed to meet.
Data collection on the extent to which public sector settings are serving food from local sustainable sources is currently underway. We expect the work to be completed by Summer 2027.
Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on introducing clearer country-of-origin and method-of-production food labelling to support higher animal welfare standards since the Government response to the Fairer Food Labelling consultation.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Government’s animal welfare strategy, and the Farming Roadmap published in June 2026, we are committed to ensuring that consumers have access to clear information on how and where their food was produced.
To support this, we will continue working with relevant stakeholders, including the farming and food industry, scientists and NGOs to explore how improved animal welfare food labelling could provide greater consumer transparency, support farmers and promote better animal welfare. We will set out next steps in due course.
We will also continue to review origin labelling, using the outcomes of the Fairer Food Labelling consultation as supporting evidence for future labelling policy.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which public bodies will be required to comply with the revised Government Buying Standards for food and catering services.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.
Defra has not yet made any decisions on the content, scope, application or implementation of any future changes.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on updating Government Buying Standards relating to food procurement.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is considering the policy options available to deliver further on its ambitions for public sector food, including potentially updating the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.
Defra has not yet made any decisions on the content, scope, application or implementation of any future changes.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will bring forward regulations under the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities taking place abroad.
As set out in the animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, Defra is continuing to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will set out next steps in due course.
In the meantime, the department encourages all parties who interact with tourists to consider how they can use those opportunities to raise awareness of low-welfare animal activities and promote responsible tourism choices.